ROADRUNNERS (6-17 overall) at
STANFORD (14-7 overall)
FEBRUARY 10, 2009 ? 7:00 p.m.
MAPLES PAVILION ? PALO ALTO, CALIF.
KERN NEWSTALK 1180 AM ? NO TELEVISION FOR THIS GAME
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CARDINAL NOTES
The Cardinal opened the season on fire, winning their 1st 10 games and 11 of 12...are just 3?6 since...they have two common opponents with CSUB, defeating Air Force and losing to Oregon State at home...Sr. G Anthony Goods leads three Cardinal players in double figures at 16.5 ppg...Jr. F Landry Fields adds 12.0 ppg and 6.8 rpg...Stanford hits 37% from beyond the arc.
SERIES HISTORY
This will be the second meeting between Stanford and CSUB in men's basketball. . .The only previous meeting came on Nov. 24, 1999.
PREVIOUS MEETINGS
1999 @Stanford 72, 'RUNNERS 31
THIS DATE IN ROADRUNNER HISTORY
CSUB's last home sellout at the Icardo Center on campus (3,880) came vs. Grand Canyon on Feb. 10, 1996. CSUB now plays at Rabobank Arena (10,000).
WHEN LAST WE MET: The Roadrunners will be trying to erase the ghosts of holidays past when they visit Maples Pavilion Tuesday. The last time they faced the No. 4 ranked Cardinal, on Thanksgiving Eve, 1999, the 'Runners shot a school?record low 18.6 percent (11-for-59) in a 72?31 loss. CSUB trailed by just six midway through the first half before Stanford went on a 30?6 run that gave them a 42?15 halftime lead.
Ron Selleaze was the only 'Runner to score in double figures, finishing with 12 points and a game?high eight rebounds. Casey Jacobsen came off the bench to lead Stanford with 15 points.
A QUASI CONFERENCE GAME: While today's game is a nonconference affair for both teams, the Roadrunners do have a tie to the Pac?10: the 'Runner wrestling team has competed in the Pac?10 since 1998. CSUB has won two Pac?10 titles (1996 and 1999) and finished second five times, most recently in 2007.
HEAD AND SHOULDER ABOVE: In a very real sense, CSUB will be looking up at Stanford in tonight's game. The Cardinal roster features seven players taller than all but 6?10 sophomore F/C Cory Brown (Lakeside/El Capitan HS) on the 'Runner roster.
HALF AS GOOD: Perhaps the oddest trend to come out of the CSUB season so far in 2008?09 has been this: the Roadrunners have actually won more games when trailing at the half (4) than when they were leading going into intermission (2).
HOME SWEET HOME: The Jan. 31 win versus Utah Valley was CSUB's fifth home win of the season. That surpasses last season's total of four home wins for the most in the NCAA Division I era of CSUB Athletics.
BUT NOT ROAD SWEET ROAD: While the 'Runners evened their record at 5?5 in Rabobank Arena, they enter today's game just 1?12 outside Kern County this season. Counting back to an 80?77 win at Long Beach State on Jan. 23, 2008, CSUB is 1?20 on the road. For the record, that win was a 79?72 victory at Pepperdine on Nov. 29, 2008.
A BETTER THAN 50?50 CHANCE: The 'Runners shot better than 50 percent (22?for?41, 53.7 percent) for the sixth time this season at Oregon State, yet, shockingly, did not win the game. Since February 2000, the 'Runners are now 36?3 when shooting 50 percent or better from the field, with all three losses coming this season.
The 'Runners shot a season?high 54.1 percent (33?for?61) in their loss at UC Davis. It marked the first time in 35 games that the 'Runners lost when shooting 50 percent or better from the field. Prior to that, CSUB hadn't wasted such an effort since shooting 56.4 percent (31?for?55) but dropping an 84?79 decision at Chico State on Feb. 18, 2000.
CLOSE BUT NO CIGAR: Close games have not been friendly to the 'Runners as of late. After earning a two?point, 67?65, win over Big West Conference favorite Cal State Northridge in their home opener, the 'Runners have dropped six of their last seven games decided by four or fewer points, including Jan. 17's 64?63 heart?breaker vs. UC Riverside.
BOMBS AWAY FOR JOHNSON: Sophomore guard Alex Johnson (Toronto/Vaughan Road Academy) is heating up from beyond the arc. He is shooting 20?for?45 (44 percent) from three?point land over the last seven games. He opened the season just 1?for?10 from long range and was wallowing around 30 percent before his recent hot streak.
LATUNDE IN TOP 5 AMONG INDEPENDENT REBOUNDERS: With his 12?rebound effort at Northridge, Santwon Latunde (Landover, Md./Cowley County CC) moved up to No. 4 in the nation among NCAA Division I Independent rebounders. He enters tonight averaging 7.7 rebounds per game. Gordan Watt of Houston Baptist tops the list at 8.8 rpg.
'RUNNERS vs. DI COMPETITION: Although 2008?09 is just the second time the Roadrunners have taken on a full NCAA Division I schedule, Bakersfield already has a bit of history in NCAA Division I play. The 'Runners own an all?time mark of 31?83 in 114 games against 44 different Division I opponents. Note that this mark does not include games against current DI teams that were not DI when they met CSUB.
WE MEET AGAIN: The 'Runners may be relative new kids on the block at the NCAA Division I level, but they possess a wealth of experience against the Division I opponents they will meet this season. CSUB owns an aggregate 155?129 all?time record against this season's opposition. Note that many of those results came when both CSUB and its opposition were competing at the Division II level.
37 YEARS OF CSUB BASKETBALL: The 2008?2009 season will mark the 38th anniversary of Roadrunner men's basketball at CSUB. Since the program's inception in 1971?72, the Roadrunners have posted an impressive all?time record of 743?344 (.684).
WHERE OTHERS HAVE GONE BEFORE: Making the leap from NCAA Division II to NCAA Division I play is a big step. It's also a step taken by several Roadrunner rivals over the past few seasons. Bakersfield is the sixth West Region school to make the jump since 1990. The others are: Cal Poly, Cal State Northridge, Sacramento State, UC Davis and UC Riverside.
In fact, DII and the California Collegiate Athletic Association have been jumping off points for many of the current DI programs in the West. All nine Big West Conference members are former DII schools and all but UC Irvine were formerly in the CCAA. Other former DII and CCAA schools from the West include Fresno State, Pepperdine, San Diego State and San Jose State.
